Internal fitting for hollow containers



April 14, 1942. w; WALSH INTERNAL FITTING FOR HOLLOW CONTAINERS Filed March 7, 1939 Patented Apr. 14, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT FFICE INTERNAL FITTING FOR HOLLOW CONTAHQERS William Walsh, London, England Application March '7, 1939, Serial No. 260,445 In Great Britain February 15, 1939 4 Claims.

It is an object of my present invention to provide improved means whereby a container can be divided into compartments by means of shelves or partitions which are readily removable and which enable the contents of the container in the various compartments to be kept separate and prevented from intermingling.

In my aforesaid specification No. 249,502 I have described an internal fitting for a hollow container in which the shelves were mounted upon a plurality of upright members which were fixed in a supporting base member and carried a plurality of fixed collars for supporting the shelves at predetermined spaced intervals,

the upright members being screw threaded at spaced intervals immediately above each shelf for the purpose of enabling a locking nut to be screwed down on the shelf so as to clamp such shelf against the fixed supporting collar.

According to the present invention, however, an internal fitting for hollow containers is provided comprising one or more shelves or partitions adapted to be arranged transversely of the container and to be detachably supported or retained in the container by a plurality of upright members supported by a common base member and extending in the general direction of length of the container through apertures in said shelves or partitions, each of said upright members being screw threaded and being provided with nuts or collars for supporting said shelves or partitions, said nuts or collars being screwed on to supporting nuts or collars when the latter are in the desired positions,

The invention will be more completely understood from the following detailed description which is given in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 show a sectional elevation and a plan view respectively of an octagonal container constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 3 is an enlarged View of one of the upright shelf supporting members and illustrates the preferred method of securing the shelves to the upright.

Figures 4 and 5 illustrate a shelf aperture and a supporting nut in two different positions, while Figures 6 and 7 illustrate a shelf aperture and a locking nut in two different positions.

Referring now to the drawing the container is formed as an upright hollow structure having a substantially fiat octagonal base I and upstanding sides 2, the container being formed of any suitable material but preferably of transparent glass in order that the articles when stored in the container may be visible through the side walls.

For the purpose 'of supporting the shelves or apertures in the container there is provided a base member 3 which is also of octagonal shape so as to conform with the base and inner side walls of the container, and this base member 3 may either be of annular form or shaped in accordance with the container base or it may be of solid construction so as to extend continuously over the whole floor of the container. Furthermore, this base member may either be formed as a separate unit asshown which may be readily removed from the container if required, or it may be rigidly fixed to or formed as part of the container base.

This base member 3 is provided with four upstanding rods 4 which are screw threaded throughout their length and are screwed into suitable screw threaded apertures formed in the base member 3 at alternate corners as shown, these apertures. being formed at a surficient distance from the outer corners of the base member to facilitate access to and adjustment of the shelf supporting devices to be hereinafter described. In the octagonal container as shown,

four shelves 5, 6,1 and 8, are provided, and each supporting the upper shelves without the necessity of removing the supporting nuts from such shelves which can thus be merely rotated when the particular shelf which they support is inserted.

In order to prevent the nuts I0 from moving out of the supporting position when. the shelves are inserted, the underside of each shelf is provided with a pair of grooves or slots I2 adjacent each aperture 9 into which the lateral arms or wing portions Ilare adapted to fit when the supporting nuts I0 are in the correct position. This is clearly shown in Figure 4.

In order that the shelves may be securely locked in their desired positions I provide a series of locking nuts l3 screwed on to the rods 4 as shown, two or four of these nuts being provided for each shelf. These nuts are of similar construction to the supporting nuts II) but the outwardly extending lateral arms or wing portions I4 are upwardly curved so that when the nuts are screwed down against the upper side of the shelf the nut passes into the shelf aperture 9 until the wing portion I4 contacts with the shelf surface and clamps the shelf rigidly against the supporting nut I0, the latter also passing a considerable distance into the aperture 9 owing to the grooves or slots I2, so that when the locking nut I3 is screwed home the two nuts I0 and I3 are almost in contact with one another; this is clearly shown in Figure 3. The total span of the lateral arms or wing portions I4 of the locking nut l'3 are similar to that of the supporting nuts I (I so that when the lateral arms or wing portions I4 are in alignment with the longer axis of the aperture 9 the shelf can be removed without the necessity of removing the locking nut I3. Thus by merely rotating the supporting and locking nuts as required the shelves can be successively inserted and clamped in position in spaced relationship and since the rods 4 are continuouslyscrew threaded the positions of the shelves may be adjusted as desired merely by adjusting the positions of the supporting nuts. In order that the shelf supports may be disposed in a horizontal plane however, the container walls may be graduated or otherwise marked so as to provide indications of the positions at which the supporting nuts should be placed. In order to facilitate the insertion and removal of the shelves, a pair of tags I5 may be provided on each shelf of any convenient shape or form, or apertures may be formed in the shelves so as to facilitate their removal by a suitable tool.

It will be obvious that the invention is capable of many modifications, for example, the container might be formed of metal, deli, or other material or the container and basev member may be of circular, square, hexagonal, or any other convenient shape, and when an octagonal container is used eight upright members instead of four might be provided particularly in the case of large containers, or in cases where heavy articles are to be stored on the shelves. In cases Where only two uprights are employed the locking nuts are of special advantage in retaining the shelves--rigidly' and correspondingly-balanced for weight on the shelves.

It will be obvious that an internal fitting for containers as constructed in accordance with the invention has a large field of utility and more especially for transparent containers in attractive design, for example, glass containers to divide varied goods for inspection indifferent sections of shelves since a container of such form enables a large number of goods to be displayed in the minimum amount of space. Furthermore, if an air-tight cover is fixed to the container the goods may be kept visible therein for long periods since they are at the same time protected from damp, deterioration or dust.

The invention is not only useful for displaying articles for sale in shops and warehouses, but is also useful for displaying articles in laboratories and museums since such articles may be examined on glass shelves and studied as desired, without any risk of damaging the specimens by handling.

Iclaim: I

1. An internal fitting for hollow containers comprising aplurality of shelves arranged transversely of the container, a supporting base member mounted upon the floor of the container, a plurality of screw threaded upright members mounted in said base member and extending in the general direction of length of the container through elongated apertures in said shelves, a plurality. of nuts screwed on to said upright members for supporting said shelves in the container in spaced relationship, said nuts being provided with lateral arms for co-operating with the apertures in said shelves, said lateral arms being of such length as to be capable of passing through said apertures when in one position and to be incapable of passing through such apertures when in another position.

2. An internal fitting for hollow containers 7 comprising a plurality of shelves arranged transtainer through elongated apertures in said I shelves, a plurality of nuts screwed on to said upright members for supporting said shelves in the container in spaced relationship, a plurality of locking nuts disposed on said upright members for clamping said shelves against said supporting nuts, said locking nuts being provided with lateral arms for engaging the shelf when disposed in one position with respect to said apertures and for permitting the withdrawal of the shelf over said locking nuts when disposed in another position with respect to said aperures.

3. An internal fitting for hollow containers comprising a plurality of shelves arranged transversely of the container, a supporting base member mounted upon the floor of the container, a plurality of screw threaded upright members mounted .in said base member and extending in the eneral direction of length of the container through elongated apertures in said shelves, a plurality of nuts screwed on to said upright members for supporting said shelves in the container in spaced relationship, said nuts being provided with lateral arms for supporting said shelves when in one position and for permitting the free passage of the shelves when in an other position, and the undersides of said shelves being provided with grooves adjacent said apertures for receiving said lateral arms when said nuts are in the supporting position.

4. An internal fitting for hollow containers comprising a plurality of shelves arranged transversely of the container, a supporting base member mounted upon the floor of the container, a plurality of screw threaded upright members mounted in said base member, extending in the general direction of length of the container through elongated apertures in said shelves, a

plurality of nuts screwed on to said upright members for supporting said shelves in the container in spaced relationship, a plurality of looking nuts disposed on said upright members for clamping said shelves against said supporting nuts, said locking nuts being provided with lateral arms for co-operating with the upper sides of said shelves, said lateral arms being upwardly curved so as to permit said locking nuts to, be screwed down into said apertures before said lateral anns make contact with the upper surfaces of the shelves.

WILLIAM WALSH. 

